A Couple of Icons *please critique!* Updated 2x!

[goten0040]

Just thought I'd play around with PhotoShop. Trying to learn to make good graphics. I made a couple of icons.



I don't like this one much. There's so much wrong with it. ><



I like this one though. I'd love to hear what you all think.



A new one. It's a little rough looking, but I like the final effect.



This one's more of a joke than anything. I really need help on making text readable. D: But it was a fun picture to play with.

Brushes from Aethereality.net. Screencaps from Iroh.org.

[Katara7]

those are cool! ^

[Empy]

These are all good however my favorite is the second. The first icon has a nice shot however it's a bit washed out so it's harder to see Aang. In addition, the text used it a little... well, it just doesn't seem to fit. For the second I like it because the shot is nice as well as the effects. The effects don't take away from the image and add to it. The resulting icon is simple but not boring and really gives a nice impression. As for the third, this one is nice but not my favorite because it seems busy to me. I like the coloring however it seems like there's a bit going on which I personally don't like as much. I also found the text used in that icon to appear like an afterthought. That's just my opinion, however.

These are all really nice. Good job, I can't wait to see how you progress

[Aanglover]

i really liked #2!
but the 1st one, i could see that you used the lighting effect in the corners, which, i believe, wasn't really necessary.
the 3rd one was really nice, but as Empyreal said it seemed a bit overdone w/ effects.

i can't wait to see your icons to come and see how far you have progressed!

[goten0040]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the critiques. I'll keep them in the mind as I work on more of them.

[Deleted]

I know nothing on making icons so I cant give you any tips but the first one made me laugh.
I,ve been meaning to tell you I like your avatar cause it had sparkle feel to it.
And the third one is all blue and cool looking.

[Taintedmushroom]

To be honest, they're nice, but I'm sure you can do better with practice. What I've learned was that many textures and brushes don't always make the icon good. When I was first making icons I was eager to use a lot of them but too much going on is not always the best way. I learned a lot from tutorials though! All in all, I like the second one best. It's not too much, the sparkly-light things do good for the icon.

Do show us your progress! =D

[notreal]

The first would be fine if you lowered the brightness. Curves are a nice way to bring out the shadows/skin tones better if the brightness/contrast and lighten/darken tules phail. Screening is also a bit better way to get the right lighting you want.


Second is very nice. The texture does not take away from the over all quality of the icon and the source of light in this graphic helps with the shadowing on the left side.

Third would be better if the coloring was reduced to the surroundings rather than actually on Katara. Everything blends together.

[Akash]

Ohh! Those are very nice. I agree with what the above people are saying for the most part. The first one needed to be less bright and the darkened edges aren't necessary. The text could be a bit larger, a more wider font, and opaque. Then move it to the top where there is a bit more space. The second is my favorite. I really like the colors and the image, but I think the brushes aren't necessary. I used to use those same exact brushes from Aethereality, but after a while, I realized that they aren't necessary in my images. (I used to use like 695465494 brushes and textures in my graphics, but then for some reason I completely stopped... I guess to feel more independent. My philosophy is that if I really need to use brushes or textures, I just use the default Photoshop ones. You will be surprised to see how many neat effects Photoshop has alone.) If you still want to keep them, you can lower the opacity a bit, or actually remove the top one. It is still an amazing icon nonetheless. =) The third one is also very nice, but it's too blue. I agree with Shay's critique.

Overall, they are really really good. Keep up the good work.